Hydraulic fracturing, “fracking” in simpler terms, is
the process of extracting underground resources by pumping water and chemicals
into a well (Hydraulic fracturing..., para 1). This process of drilling for
natural gas has been a major topic for debate, in America, for almost four or
five years, and continues to rise. Over the years, many have argued the good
and bad effects of hydraulic fracturing. The main categories that are debated
with this process are the economy, safety precautions, and health issues.
The economy plays a big role in the
up rise of hydraulic fracturing and whether it is beneficial or not. Farmers
and drilling companies seem to be the ones that are directly affected by this
process, but a lot of others benefit too. “The gas boom is transforming small towns like
this one (Monstrose, PA: population 4,400 and growing) and revitalizing the
economy of this once-forgotten stretch of rural northeastern Pennsylvania. The
few hotels here have expanded, restaurants are packed and housing rentals have
more than doubled” (Seelye, para 5). As Seelye explains, the economic boom is
really beneficial towards a lot of people throughout the world, because it is
creating more jobs and bringing in money. On the other hand, the process of
hydraulic fracturing is bringing about issues. Even though many are able to get
jobs and it is a source of money, the machinery and lack of skill is taking a
toll on the economy as well. As reported by Katharine Seelye, “But the boom —
brought on by an advanced drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing, known
as fracking — has brought problems too. While the gas companies have created
numerous high-paying drilling jobs, many residents lack the skills for them.
Some people’s drinking water has been contaminated. Narrow country roads are
crumbling under the weight of heavy trucks. With housing scarce and expensive,
more residents are becoming homeless. Local services and infrastructure are
strained” (para 7). This shows that even though the economy benefits from the
extra jobs and money, the economy also is being negatively affected because not
all of the revenue is going towards the government. Most of the money has to go
towards the new roads, as well as towards dealing with the problems being
brought forward, such as homelessness and water contamination.
Safety precautions are a major issue with hydraulic
fracturing, because it directly affects all human and animal populations. According
to Joe Nocera, “Let’s
take one example: the problem of methane leaks. Every natural gas well leaks
methane — methane is natural gas, after all — and while the natural gas that
winds up being burned as fuel is, indeed, relatively clean, methane that escapes
into the air is potent. Though it eventually disintegrates, for several decades
methane can add significantly to greenhouse gas emissions” (para 5). This shows
that one of the most occurring safety problems includes leaks, which allows the
gases and chemicals to enter the air and ground. Gases leaking into the air and
ground is a major issue that comes along with the process of hydraulic
fracturing, because it is contaminating the world’s water source as well as
causing issues with greenhouse gases. While those who believe the drilling
sites have minor issues, others think the complete opposite. As Eliza Griswold
expresses, “Harvesting this gas promises either to provide Americans with a
clean domestic energy source or to despoil rural areas and poison our air and
drinking water, depending on whom you ask” (para 5). Griswold sees that there
are two very different views about exactly how safe hydraulic fracturing is or
is not. She thinks that “fracking” can be beneficial, with the right and proper
precautions when dealing with safety. According to David Grottenthaler, “One concern is what to do with water that flows back out
of the formation containing down-hole constituents. Treating it for reuse is
one option” (para 2). Grottenthaler believes there are minor defaults with the
drilling companies’ safety precautions, but it is not anything they cannot
tweak, or is not fixable; it is just a matter of finding ways to fix these
issues. There is a third party, or view, on the process of hydraulic
fracturing and that is best explained by Elizabeth Royte, as she states “And many would simply rather not know what’s
going on” (para 32). Society, as a whole, needs to care about what is going on
even when problems do not necessarily affect them. Most, who actually show interest or care
towards the matter, have worry that deals with whether or not our water and air
is being contaminated, and whether or not it is causing a rise in health
issues.
Health
issues are a major factor in this long debate dealing with hydraulic
fracturing. Problems have been on the rise, because people are constantly
getting sick and are seeing high levels of chemicals in their blood systems.
They immediately tie the chemicals in their blood to the drilling process,
because the ongoing problems had not occurred before hydraulic fracturing came
into play. Farmers are the main population that is being affected by hydraulic
fracturing in a health aspect, because they live on the same land as the
drilling site. As heard and recorded by Lynne Peeples, “The health effects are
the biggest uncertainty with this issue. There’s almost no information about
it,” said Jackson, whose research has found some evidence for elevated levels
of gases such as methane in water supplies close to gas wells. “That doesn’t
mean there are huge health effects. We just don’t know”” (para 11). With what
Peeples reported, many see that the ongoing health effects can be tied to
hydraulic fracturing because of the chemicals that are used. One would not
normally see amounts of methane and such chemicals in their blood stream, so
they automatically link it to the drilling process for their usage of large
amounts of chemicals. Communities, mainly farmers and those directly affected,
have had weird events to occur such as their livestock dying after drinking
water with a drilling site nearby. On the other hand, there are those that are
not directly affected or have not seen health issues from hydraulic fracturing,
but are not one hundred percent. As John Manuel states in
his article, “However, because groundwater supplies and natural
gas deposits are often separated by thousands of feet of rock and earth, and
groundwater can be contaminated by many sources, it is difficult to establish a
definitive connection between contaminated drinking water and ‘fracking’” (para
3). That is the problem. Most of society does not know whether or not hydraulic
fracturing is actually causing health issues, because there are not any real
statistics proving so.
Hydraulic
fracturing is the process of drilling for natural gases, beneath the Earth’s
surface, by the use of high-pressure water and chemicals. Though this process
has been around for quite a few years now, most of society still questions
whether or not this process is safe. They worry about the different economic
issues, safety precautions, and most importantly, the health issues that have
been taking place. Most view hydraulic fracturing as a beneficial organization,
because it allows thousands to have jobs and gain money from those jobs. In all
realization, more jobs and money can certainly help boost the economy, but
knowledge of hydraulic fracturing being safe is more beneficial to society.
Once drilling companies and such important figures have specific safety
precautions in place, communities will be more comfortable with it. “That’s a
hard realization that’s going to sink in,” he said. “We’re definitely going to
be able to take a bite out of it through some of the standards that are coming
on line, but we’re going to reach a point where something else needs to be
done” (Kusnetz, para 21). As Nichols states, a man interviewed by Kusnetz,
something must be done. It is just the matter of people coming together and
finding a source that best suits the world in its’ entirety.
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